92.5 WFDX Gaylord sold

[CD 94.7]

To a religious broadcaster, I might have guessed. The station has been off the air for quite a while or for the most part since 2019. Said it went silent in March.

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/2844 ... f-10-18-2/

[MWmetalhead]

Sold for $175,000, although I am unsure if it is an all-cash deal.

Spreading a finite amount of Christian radio donor dollars over more and more signals serving the same general region seems like a dumb idea to me.

I'll have to see if I can find the thread from a few years ago where some of us predicted the ultimate sale price.

[CD 94.7]

Yeah, that's what pretty much clutters the radio dial in western northern Michigan and the eastern part of the U.P these days sadly.

[TC Talks]

I remember when WAIR was launched, the owners thought it was a brilliant opportunity. Overlay this signal on a population map and you realize the liability of operating a powerful station to small economically challenged communities.

[MWmetalhead]

Because of the snafu with my original MWmetalhead account last weekend, I am unable to directly quote my original posts regarding potential sale price directly. Looks like some of the posts associated with the original account have been lost

Fortunately, other folks quoted a couple of my original posts here:
https://www.mibuzzboard.com/phpBB3/view ... 5&start=30

Looks like I originally estimated a sale price of $200,000 but then reduced the number to $100,000 (or even less) once I saw how little WSRT fetched (I think MacGar paid $125,000).

In fairness, I have no idea if comparing the WFDX sale to the WSRT is apples-to-apples:
- I cannot recall if the purchase price of WSRT was completely cash upfront or if it had a seller financing component;
- Same questions also apply to the WFDX transaction;
- I do not know if WSRT's tower is owned by the station or if tower space is rented from a third party;
- I do not know if WFDX's tower is owned by the station or if tower space is rented from a third party;
- In the event the tower is station-owned, I do not know if rental income is received by the station from other tenants.

[ftballfan]

Northern Christian Radio is not a surprise considering WPHN has a CP to move to the tower that WFDX is on.

Since WSRT went for $125,000, I wonder if the WFDX price also includes the tower and the land around it.

With the prices for WSRT and WFDX, I think the Henderson stations would only go for $250,000 to $300,000 as a group (maybe a little more if they own the land where WBNZ/WLLS is licensed to transmit from; it is (or would be) a good site for cell phone services)

[MWmetalhead]

Reasonable comparables for 101.9 would probably be 94.3, 97.5 and 98.9. Those stations all sold for about $500,000 each.

From that price, back out deferred maintenance needs for 101.9, which are perhaps in the six figures.

$250,000 to $300,000 is probably in the ballpark for 101.9. I'd put the range at $250,000 to $400,000.

The 92.3 and 99.3 licenses are worth very little. Maybe $25,000 each on a very good day. A willing buyer for WLDR is unlikely to want to touch 92.3 & 99.3 with a 10 foot pole.

[Ben Zonia]

I think one of the best possible uses of these facilities would be as a simulcast with an AM station.

Too far you say? Consider WOOD-FM 106.9.

[MWmetalhead]

WOOD-FM reaches numerous highly populated zip codes within the Grand Rapids CMSA that get crappy to non-existent reception from 1300 for either the whole day or at night.

WOOD-FM probably reaches a half million people that get shaky reception from 1300 at least part of the time. Given the fact 106.9 could simulcast 1300 without running afoul of market exclusivity rights as to certain programming, it was a good pairing.

Now, let's talk a hypothetical where Midwestern buys 99.3 to fill in nighttime coverage gaps for 580. At a dirt cheap price (i.e. in the low five digits), it may make sense. That said, you and I both know Roy will never, ever sell to Midwestern. Plus, Midwestern is already maxed out on FM stations.

[Ben Zonia]

MW,

Do you have a study that says and on what basis they are maxed out?

It used to be easy when it was engineering based. When lawyers and accountants got their way, on 73.3555, it turned into a giraffe, a horse built by a committee.

All the AMs and FMs, including noncommercial, now count toward the market station total. I wonder if there is a loophole that would allow it.

There also ought to be a defined "struggling station" exception.

There are some other possibilities that I won't reveal.

[MWmetalhead]

I suspect there are between 30 and 44 stations in the Traverse City - Petoskey market. For a market whose station count is within that range, the station limit per owner is 7, with a max of 4 in any one band.

Midwestern already has 93.5, 97.5, 103.5 and 107.5. 92.9 with its Cadillac COL presumably does not count toward the limit. Wexford County was removed from the Nielsen MSA several years back.

Translators do not count toward the total station or single band limits, as I'm sure you know.

99.3 could conceivably change its COL to a community in northern Manistee County to avoid being counted as an in-market signal.

[EdWalker]

Northern Christian Radio is not a surprise considering WPHN has a CP to move to the tower that WFDX is on.

Since WSRT went for $125,000, I wonder if the WFDX price also includes the tower and the land around it.

With the prices for WSRT and WFDX, I think the Henderson stations would only go for $250,000 to $300,000 as a group (maybe a little more if they own the land where WBNZ/WLLS is licensed to transmit from; it is (or would be) a good site for cell phone services)

Crown Castle owns the WFDX tower. https://fccinfo.com/CMDProASRLookup.php ... izAMSL=609

[tvbobn]

I have heard that William Gleich is thousands of dollars behind in tower rent for WFDX. That's one of the reasons he has decided to sell it.

The current transmitter is very old and uses a lot of electric power. Very costly to operate and tubes are getting more difficult to find for it.

When Rick Stone built and operated 92.5, he ran it as a Petoskey station. He even had a on-channel repeater in downtown Petoskey for several years.

WFDX covers a lot of trees and not many people. it' would be a tough radio station to operate for most commercial broadcasters nowadays.

[Ben Zonia]

They also had a translator on 100.5, from the WJML-FM/WKLZ/WAWM tower. An engineer offered to put it back on the air before it was cancelled, but it didn't happen.

https://www.fccdata.org/?lang=en&appid= ... cid=140609

The on channel booster was cancelled. There's really only a several block area in the Petoskey Bay View area that has a really deep shadow. A 10 watt nondirectional booster would probably fill it. The deleted translator was 1000 watts, which may have caused too large an area with interference fringes.

This record doesn't show the proper pattern rotation, which is 50 degrees.

https://www.fccdata.org/?lang=en&appid= ... acid=49574

[Colonel Flagg]

I think the Henderson stations would only go for $250,000 to $300,000 as a group (maybe a little more if they own the land where WBNZ/WLLS is licensed to transmit from; it is (or would be) a good site for cell phone services)

Foolish decisions caused a lot of missed opportunities at the WBNZ Forrester Hill site. When the telecom companies came calling, 20+ years ago, instead of constructing a new, heavier tower, to accommodate them, Marc Rosseels gave them a ground lease. That's why, from a distance, Forrester Hill looks like a pin cushion. You have the flimsy, 45+ year old overloaded 99.3 tower on site, along with two free-standing cell towers. I believe AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon are all there. Marc would have been a lot further ahead to get a loan from the local bank, build a new tower, and load it up with paying tenants.

Not to mention, Forrester is a lousy site for FM. It covers more of Lake Michigan than anything else, and is heavily shadowed in the direction of Traverse City.